8800GTS, 25A?

Cervantes1337Cervantes1337
edited July 2007 in Hardware
Ok, quick question. I did a search and didn't see this answered already.

I saw online that the 8800GTS requires a minimum of 25A on the 12V rail, and 30A is recommended. I ordered a PSU (Enermax 535W EG565P) and it is SLI certified, but each 12V rail is only 18A. I checked more expensive, higher wattage PSUs and nothing came close to 25A on a single rail.

Clearly, I don't know much about power supplies. Does that 18A mean the max if all the rails are being used? Or do I have a combined power of 36A if only one rail is used? Basically, did I just screw myself when I ordered all my stuff for a new pc?

There was an article on MADSHRIMPS, showing how they used a Zen400W PSU to power a dual sli 8800GTS system. So that made me think 535W would be fine for one.

Comments

  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited July 2007
    You should be fine. That 25A figure likely assumes that you'll have a single 12V rail shared with all other components (CPU, HDDs etc). With multi-rail PSUs, there is usually one rail dedicated to the PCI-E connector and perhaps another strand of molex or SATA connectors. If the 8800GTS has 18A at it's disposal, that should be plenty.

    Technically, an official 'ATX' spec PSU (according to Intel's recommendations anyhow) can not have more than 20A on each 12V rail. Many PSU manufacturers are starting to ignore that spec and moving back towards large single +12V rails (my personal preference).
  • Cervantes1337Cervantes1337
    edited July 2007
    Ah, that's what I was hoping to hear. Thanks, man.
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